Pope Francis to have Covid-19 vaccine as early as next week

The Vatican City, the smallest independent county in the world, has said it will shortly launch its own vaccination campaign against the coronavirus.

Pope Francis said on Saturday he planned to have a Covid-19 vaccination as early as next week and urged everyone to get a shot, to protect not only their own lives but those of everyone else.

Pope Francis attends an inter-religious prayer service for peace in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, a church on top of Rome's Capitoline Hill, Italy. (REUTERS)

"I believe that ethically everyone should take the vaccine," the Pope said in an interview with TV station Canale 5. "It is an ethical choice because you are gambling with your health, with your life, but you are also gambling with the lives of others."

The Vatican City, the smallest independent county in the world, has said it will shortly launch its own vaccination campaign against the coronavirus.

"Next week," the Pope said, "we will start doing it here, in the Vatican, and I have booked myself in. It must be done."